The district of Kronach today decided in favour of the sale of the hospital Frankenwaldklinik Kronach gGmbH to RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG, Bad Neustadt a.d. Saale. The purchase agreement was concluded and notarised immediately following the decision. The takeover deal will take effect from 1 October 2005. The parties agreed to maintain secrecy regarding the purchase price.

The decision to accept the offer from the listed hospital group headquartered in the Rhön was underpinned decisively by the clear-cut strategy presented in terms of: 

• medical concept
• personnel concept
• investment programme
• economic efficiency

The 282-bed basic and standard care hospital currently serves patients in the fields of internal medicine (134 beds) / general surgery (102 beds) / gynaecology and obstetrics (41 beds) / affiliated practitioner department for oto-rhino-laryngology = ENT (5 beds) as well as its senior citizens' facility (30 places). The hospital also has a radiology department and one for anaesthetics and intensive medicine.

In 2004 nearly 10,500 patients were treated at Frankenwaldklinik in Kronach, which employed a staff of 723 (incl. service companies) at the end of August 2005. “Generally we are pleased with the range of services offered at Frankenwaldklinik which we back without reservation”, said Gerald Meder, deputy chairman of the Board of Management of RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG. “With an eye to promoting and enhancing the future prospects of this facility’s promising medical-organisational concept, we will set up an interdisciplinary project group bringing together the head physicians, further specialists from the medical and administration fields and the senior nursing staff of Frankenwaldklinik, as well as representatives from RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG. Necessary investments will also be discussed and decided on in this project group on the basis of existing structures”, Meder explained.